Steve Carell & James Gandolfini to star in HBO Films 'Bone Wars'

Fresh off of their co-starring roles in the critically-panned comedy 'The Incredible Burt Wonderstone,' Steve Carell and James Gandolfini are teaming up again--and this project seems to hold a lot more promise. HBO Films have cast Carell and Gandolfini in the starring roles of their upcoming HBO Films movie 'Bone Wars,' an adaptation of the real life feud between rival paleontologists during the Great Dinosaur Rush of the 1800s.

I know what you're thinking... paleontology? Isn't that the profession that everyone made fun of Ross for holding on 'Friends?' You are absolutely correct... but the field was a bit different back when Edward Drinker Cope (to be played by Carell) and Othniel Charles Marsh (played by Gandolfini) began unearthing, discovering and naming new dinosaur species as fast as humanly possible. According to HBO Films, 'Bone Wars' is set during the post-Civil War birth of American science, the film is a sophisticated comedy about one of history’s most notorious feuds, a decades-long competition that led to the discovery of more than 160 dinosaurs and their mutual downward spiral. During the 'Bone Wars,' both Cope and Marsh used underhanded tactics in effort to not only secure prominence over their rival but to cause catastrophe for one another, as well. Such nefarious means included bribery, theft, and even stooping so low as the destruction of rare and priceless fossils--merely so the other paleontologist couldn't claim any credit from them. Sounds like a comedy to me.

From 1877 to 1892, both paleontologists used their wealth and influence to finance their own expeditions and to procure services and dinosaur bones from fossil hunters. There are innumerable ways that HBO Films' 'Bone Wars' could capitalize on history for some laughs... so what's holding up the process? Well... they don't exactly have a script yet.

While Gandolfini's Attaboy Productions is developing 'Bone Wars' for HBO, all they have are the concept, the rights, and now the principal cast. The hunt for a screenwriter is next on the docket. Here's hoping that whomever they hire for the job does better work than the eleven screenwriters attached to 'The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.'